AVATAR 2
by scarletcriminal
Summary: Lauren Garret is an awkward kind of girl who stumbles through life. She finds out who her father really is, and that takes her to new heights she never even could have imagined. My twist of a prequel to the Avatar movie.
1. Chapter 1

**I saw the movie Avatar opening week over here. Loved it. Sigourney Weaver helped that opinion incredibly. Anyway, I kept imagining myself with Jake Sully, and this came about. I'm not in it, but is good enough to pass as plausible "English Practice" as Ms. Simon calls it. Now I am rambling. Please enjoy. R&R, the like.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar because if I did I'd be a millionare. Lauren Garret is mine, though.**

**This story will later include several different pairings, but I will write more first. Okay, here we go.**

**Lauren's POV, Post AVATAR movie**

* * *

I'm not a good sleeper. I never have been.

"Lauren, get away from the window. Go to sleep."

"Momma, I want to watch the rain."

"It's midnight. Go to bed."

Memories would fly randomly into my head, rushing through. Sometimes I imagined I was swimming through them. I would come up for air, brushing back my hair and tasting sweet drops of water on my tongue. I just wish my vision was a little better so I could see the dream clearer. I guess I was opening my eyes underwater too much.

Even though you aren't supposed to dream in cryogenic sleep, my brain would flash tiny, blurred images way back in my subconscious. They were there to entertain me, to keep me somewhat controlled in the never ending rest.

And then there were memories I didn't want to see.

The flash of a camera, blinding me with a white flood of light.

"There's a trunk. That's all we could save."

"What's in it?" I asked.

"Uh, photos. Picture albums. A few old diaries I think." The fireman lugged a large suitcase, dropping it in front of me.

My mother got caught in that fire. And when I looked in the trunk, I found out who my father was.

"Your father was murdered awhile back from a mugging. He didn't know you were his. But he had a twin."

And that information led me on the greatest journey of my life.

* * *

"Requesting permission to land, this is Earth ship E-1337." I stood behind a man who spoke into a complicated microphone system able to transport what we were saying to the people in the base on Pandora.

"Ah, finally showed up? We've been waiting six years." This was the reply a short moment later.

"I'm not here to make small talk. We'll be sending down twenty crew members to assist the passenger and her Avatar through Hell's Gate."

"That's a negative. We are only allowing one human on land." The voice answered.

The man bit his lip, angry.

"How do you expect us to get her down there then?" He asked.

"Who?"

"Sully's kid."

I froze, not daring to correct him on the fact that I was this Jake Sully's niece. You just don't correct a military guy in a suit who determines whether or not you get to see the last known family member you have. It's instinct.

"Her, a pilot, and the Avatar." The voice said at last.

Just as I was about to ask what an Avatar was, some guy came over and grabbed my shoulders, tossing me towards a door.

"Let's go, you heard the man!" He got me into a smaller ship, strapping me down and informing me about the air on Pandora. Something scientific about how I wouldn't be able to breathe it for long, if it all. They'd never had a kid on Pandora.

Excellent. I was an experiment.

But I knew about the gases the plants gave off from Dr. Augustine's book. Dr. Augustine explained Pandora in an way that a kid like me could hardly follow, but I caught on when she discussed how much richer the air was. I wanted to breathe that air.

I pulled on the mask when instructed to do so, holding on for dear life the rest of the time.

Hell's Gate is like the entrance I guess. They call it that because it's literally like the entrance to Satan's turf. A newly-turned thirteen year old in a seemingly-abandoned military hot spot just don't belong in the same sentence. Not for me.

The pilot got up abruptly, shoving me out the plane and out into the middle of the grounds. Meanwhile, he hopped to the back of the ship for something. Everything looked deserted. I imagined what it must have been like in use. Huge tanks and robots everywhere. New recruits in lines. Generals with lopsided grins, thinking about how much fun it would be to screw with the newbies.

As I was glancing all around me, I noticed a door opening in the distance. From it emerged a great blue creature at least nine and a half feet tall. It wore human clothes, khakis and a vest, but sported a tail and, if not menacing enough to me (a tiny five foot tall girl) he carried a rifle.

"Hey!" He shouted, running over. "I'm Norm Spellman." He grinned, his ears flapping happily. I looked up at him even as he bent down to open a palm to me.

"Lauren." I said, placing my small hand in his and shaking it. "Lauren Garret." Mr. Spellman begins to stare at me. "Um…" I gulp. I've always been awkward around strangers. I'm just an awkward person in general.

"Sorry." Mr. Spellman apologizes. He then says, "You look just like Jake."

I smile. I suddenly realize that I am actually extremely over-excited. I think about giving Jake a hug, about him calling me his niece and treating me as his own. I am eager. More eager than I have ever been in my short life.

That was when we heard the plane revving up behind me. I spun around and Spellman and I starred disbelievingly as it took off. On the ground was a blue body, much like a very small version of the blue man who was standing by me, mouth agape. The body on the ground just had a frailer figure and breasts. It reminded me of someone…

"Hey!" Norm screamed. He ran after it, jumping into the air and flailing his arms wildly. "Hey!!! Damn it! I can't believe this! Augh!" Norm frustratingly ranted. He shook his head.

"Mr. Spellman…" I said, horror seeping through my voice. I pointed a skinny white finger at the blue creature lying on the ground.

"Oh. Wow." He kneeled and took it in his arms, inspecting the face carefully and then looking at me. "Hey, kid, did they ever take any of your hair, like, DNA, or something?"

"They asked me to pee into a cup before we left Earth. Does that fall into 'or something'?"

Norm looked back at the quickly disappearing ship.

"Max, they've taken off." He paused. "Yeah, they've left her here." Another pause. "Come on, let's get this inside." That was when he looked back at me, his pair of large golden eyes locking with mine.

And suddenly it set in.

I was being left on Pandora.


	2. Chapter 2

**This has taken me quite long to update. Why? No idea. I will be moving onto the good parts in the next chapter though. Excited! Please R&R, thank you!!**

* * *

I stood there shaking. Breaking into tears, I ran towards Norm and collapsed onto the trunk with my photos in it. I sobbed.

"L-Lauren." Norm touched my shoulder, and I shuddered. I didn't belong here.

"If you do that, your mask will fog." Norm began lifting the blue body in his arms, and I took hold of the trunk, dragging it along behind me.

"Just leave that there. I'll get it later, okay?"

I stopped, unlocking the chest and digging about for Dr. Augustine's book. It was towards the top, so I was back behind Norm in no time.

"Why did they leave?" I asked, not sure of what question I wanted an answer to first.

"According to this," Mr. Spellman said, motioning to the girl in his arms, "I'd say they were planning it all along."

"W-well what is that?" I asked, stumbling along as he opened a door with his I.D. He laughed.

"Hello? An Avatar." He walked down the halls, which reminded me all too much of a hospital what with their being completely white and silver. I hate hospitals.

But really, how was I supposed to know what an Avatar was? They said it, but that didn't mean I got it.

"Come on, kid. Hurry up!" Spellman called. I followed him into a room filled with sharp instruments, computers, and a myriad of metal stuff.

"This is the lab." He says, ducking and weaving through narrow spaces carefully as to not knock anything over.

"Lab? You mean, like, where Dr. Augustine worked?"

"You know her?" He says, his eyes lighting up. He almost drops the girl in his arms, looking like he just might mess his pants.

"Well, I read her book." I reply sheepishly, holding it up for him to see.

"Ah, so she's read it too." I heard a male's voice and then a guy in a large orange t-shirt appeared.

"Is she here? Can I meet her?" I asked.

The men went silent.

"No. She…passed away years ago." The other man said. Both were obviously hurt by that fact.

"You into science at all, kid?" Norm asks. I've stopped thinking of him as Mr. Spellman. He's now 'know-it-all-Norm' in my book. I _have_ a name, Norm.

"Yeah. I know about some biology and physics."

"That's good, you'll fit in here." The human man flashed a smile at me and held out his palm. "Max Patel."

"Lauren." I introduce myself and he leads me into another section of the lab. Here, there is a control centre in the middle and a circle of white coffins surrounding it.

"I'll go put this…" Norm walks off muttering something. I am too busy following Max as he shows me the controls.

"This is how you connect with an Avatar. You go inside one of the links," He motions to a coffin, "and then we monitor your brain patterns." I can tell he's trying to use small words. I inwardly thank him. "Basically, because an Avatar is matched to your DNA, you're brains are the same."

"You mean…I get in there and then I can…talk to it?"

"Become it." He replies.

"I_ become _the blue thing?" I was feeling pretty skeptic, verging on the thought that those people were actually crazy. When Max nodded, I didn't reply. I simply looked at the different screens Max was lighting up and presenting to me.

"Hey, I checked it out. As long as she takes it easy, I think it'll be alright." A man comes walking into the room. He's average height, a bit on the thin side and has strawberry orange hair covering his chin and cheeks, as well as his head.

"Norm!?" I exclaim. Max chuckles, where Norm looks incredibly offended.

"What?!"

"You're a human!"

"Well, obviously!"

"But-but-I thought you were a Na'vi!"

Then it was Norm's turn to burst out laughing and Max began to go off on him about how I didn't know about Avatars and how if Norm was so smart why couldn't he explain.

"Look, she's here to see Jake. Why don't I just take her out there?"

"You?" Max asks. "She's just a kid; you'd better take care of her."

"Well obviously. Let's get her used to being in her body and take her to see him tomorrow."

"Where is he?" Suddenly, the two guys remember I am actually there. Norm looks to me.

"He's out in the forest shooting arrows and dancing." He chuckles, leading me to a link.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just lie down. Here, I'll take those." Norm takes off my glasses and suddenly I am blind. Have you ever seen a shower glass where it's bumpy and blurry so you can't see through? That's what my vision is like.

"Idiot." I say, rubbing my eyes naturally.

"Here." He's quickly got his arms wrapped around me in such a way that I can feel my face getting red. Once I am in the link, I push him off of me. "Just lie your head down and keep it there. When you're ready to connect, just let your mind go blank."

He closes something on top of me, and then the lid goes down. I can hear some soft whirring. The stuff I am lying on is soft and squishy, so I dig my fingernails into it, enjoying it.

"Let your mind go blank…" I think. "Just don't think…" I close my eyes, breathing quietly. My fingers soon relax.

"Hey, Laruen. You awake? …Lauren, can you hear me?"

At first, I see nothing. It's the black of my eyelids. I can feel myself shifting, tilting my head to the side. I feel as though I am waking up on a Monday morning, groggy and annoyed.

I peel open my eyelids with my mind and instantly see Norm's face peering over my own.

I reach up to touch my glasses, but find none.

"Yeah, you can see right?"

"Y-yeah." I say, trying to sit up. "Good, you're sitting…" I could tell Norm was worried about something. What was there to be worried about? I felt great. I could see everything so much clearer even more than I could _with_ glasses on.

"Okay, move your fingers like this." He showed me what to do, tapping each finger, one at a time, against his thumb, I did as he said, but it was boring quickly. I was ready to get outside, to run around.

My hands and palms were varying shades of light and dark blue. My feet were much larger than normal and I could feel the power inside them. They were just as eager as I was to go outside. My hair was deep black now instead of blonde, and it was long. In fact…I think I have a ponytail…

"Ah!" I scream after I've taken the ponytail in my hand. Some weird worm things are crawling out the bottom.

"Lauren! Lauren! Calm down." Norm steadies me, holding my hands back so that I don't try to pull the weird things out.

"L-let me go!" I shout. Hastily, I throw myself onto the floor, wobbling and trying to steady myself. My new feet are much larger now and my body is much thinner.

"Lauren, listen to me. Just follow Norm's instructions." Max tells me through the glass. I look at him, and eventually nod.

"I want to go outside." I say to Norm who is shaking as he tries to pull off some wires that have been attached to me.

"Okay, just wait. I don't want you messing up any of the equipment that I can't repair."

I stand patiently as Norm circles me, removing the strings.

"Can I go see Jake today?"

"No." He says firmly. "We'll let you outside and you can learn to walk. Then we'll think about taking you to see him tomorrow."

I sigh, waiting impatiently for him to finish de-puppet-ing me.

"Okay, I'll get my mask on." He goes over to the wall, opening a case containing a respirator and locking it onto his face.

"Ready?" I ask excitedly.

Norm laughs.

"I'll be out in a second."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. I am not James Cameron.**

**I also continously switch between...what is word..."tense" here. "tense" meaning the, like, time...sorry I cannot explain it. Basically I can't decided to use something like,**

**"He laughed"**

**or **

**"He laughs"**

**But yeah, anyway, thank you all...time for school. egh.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally! I have gotten to add a chapter. I am so slow, and apologize! But, please enjoy chapter three!**Norm tilted the plane to the side. I was busy holding on for dear life.

* * *

"Who taught you how to fly?" I asked jokingly.

"Trudy." He replied seriously. "Eywa bless her soul." He looked hurt so I stopped talking.

I kept quiet, shifting in my seat. Sitting on a tail is extremely uncomfortable.

Eventually, Norm slowed the plane, landing it on the forest floor.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"Yeah. Be careful." I clung to Norm's shoulder, although I was almost larger than he was. He rolled his eyes, causing me to let go and fold my arms as we climbed through a small section of the odd looking place.

"I've only seen places like these in books." I said aloud. "So green and…full of life."

Norm chuckled.

"Wait till you see what else is alive here."

That's when I first saw the real Na'vi. They turned to see us, smiling at Norm and then tilting their head at me. A few seemed nervous, while others came to greet me.

"H-Hi." I said. They looked full of questions, acting as though I was some strange creature. I guess I was, really. I mean, to them I'm the alien, right?

Norm said something in a strange language, to which a male Na'vi replied to, pointing. Norm nodded, seeming to thank the man and then continued along.

"What did you say?"

"I asked him where Jake is."

"Oh." I followed behind, staring back at the Na'vi. I felt so out of place, as I've always felt. It was somehow familiar; that feeling that I don't belong.

There was a group of Na'vi my size, steadily aiming arrows at targets.

"Good, good. Eyawr, Eyawr."

"That's Jake." Norm said, pointing to the Na'vi directing the children.

"Eltu si!" Jake commanded forcefully to his students.

"W-what?"

"One of them is goofing off."

I watched as Jake spotted us, looking first to Norm and then to me.

"Norm? Why are you all the way out here…and…"

I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell him anything and everything, but I couldn't.

"What are you doing?" He rambled off in Na'vi, pointing to where the children stood with their bows raised.

Realizing he thought I was one of them, I shook my head.

"I-I…I'm your niece." I said quietly. His eyes grew wide.

"What?"

"I…am your brother's daughter. Tom was my dad."

Jake stared at me for a minute. Norm laughed slightly.

"See the resemblance, Jake?"

He stared at me longer, soaking in every detail of my face. It was uncomfortable.

Eventually, Jake turned to his class and dismissed them.

"Come with me." Jake said, heading off through the trees. I glanced at Norm.

"Well? Go!" He urged. I stumbled off to follow my uncle.

"Why are you here?" Jake asked as the voices of the Na'vi behind us began to fade.

"I-I told you. I am Tom's daughter." I explained. Jake whipped his head around, anger clearly showing on his face.

"You think I wouldn't know whether my own brother had a son!" He yelled. "He's dead! There's no way he could have had a daughter."

I jumped back, tripping over my tail and landing on my back.

"How did you get here? How do you have an Avatar?" He questioned.

"T-tom Sully is my father!" I called out. "They made sure!"

"That's impossible. He died-,"

"July, 2148. The fourth." I said. "I was born March, 2148 on the seventh; approximately eight months after. I have pictures of my mom and him together. We look alike." I got up off the ground, speaking as I did. "They sampled my blood. They've got his- or yours- on Earth."

Jake took in what I was saying. He sighed, obviously unsure what to say. Maybe he was unsure what to think.

"How old are you?"

"Twelve." I answered.

"Damn…" Jake breathed. "Time up here…just doesn't pass like you think it does." He shook his head, starting back towards the Na'vi village, but pausing as he reached my side.

"Look, if you're looking for a father, I'm not exactly a great choice." He began, refusing to look at me directly. "I don't know about how to be a dad to a teenager, and I have other people to worry about."

I frowned, feeling my eyes sting and wanting to cry.

"You're saying you don't care? I'm your brother's daughter- you're niece- and you're just going to leave me alone?"

"Well, why couldn't you have stayed with your mother on Earth? You know, where you _belong_!" He shouted.

I burst into tears despite myself.

"Because she's dead now!" I screamed, taking off. My imitated Na'vi legs could carry me better than my human legs ever could. But the pain in my heart was just the same. No matter what I was, I was still unwanted.

* * *

**Woo...that was a lot more um...serious than I expected to take it. Let me know what you think please! Thanks for reading! Chapter four is being written. ~Louise Scarlet**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back with more! Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar :D**

* * *

I stormed back to where Norm and I had first landed. The scientist was standing beside his plane, checking over something when he saw me.

"Hey, how did it-,"

"Get me out of this thing," I growled, jumping into the aircraft.

"That well, huh?"

* * *

As we flew towards the base, Norm looked at me and sighed.

"Will you tell me what he said?" He asked.

"He doesn't want me." I rubbed my cheek with my palm, trying to rid myself of the stains from my tears. "He said…he said something about how I should have stayed on Earth…"

"Oh." Norm replied. I couldn't blame him for not knowing what to say; I couldn't have done much better.

"I was stupid for thinking he would just take me in," I said after a few moments of silence.

"Well…" Norm looked over at me with a smile spread on his face. "We've got a few hundred rooms back at Human Headquarters, and they're mostly empty."

I grinned back and relaxed.

* * *

"Did it change down there? How's it look?" Max, Norm, and I sat around a table in the mess hall (which could basically be described as huge and full of empty tables).

"Well, I haven't been there for six years…"

"I know, I know, but what about right before you left?" Norm urged. I tried to look at it from their angle. They hadn't been on their home planet for however long they'd been up here (which seemed like quite a bit of time). I would be curious too, wouldn't I?

"Everything was still industrialized. There's nothing else down there to look at but gray stones, glass, and smoke."

"We're not missing anything," Max said, scarfing down another burrito.

"Yeah, you're really not. Now I see what I was missing all that time."

"You like it up here?"

I nodded furiously.

"But…" I started to talk but trailed off, eventually just stopping our voices for a moment.

"But what?" Max asked.

"I wanted to find out a bit more about my dad. Looks like no one here can help me."

Norm suddenly burst into a goofy grin, practically knocking over the container of juice by his hand.

"There _is_ someone you can talk to!" He squealed.

"Who!" Max and I, both interested, questioned.

"Well, Eywa of course! Grace went to rest with Eywa. You can connect to the Tree of Souls to talk to her."

"Wait, wait, wait. Eywa as in the Na'vi's…what's the word…de-it-ty?"

"Yes, their deity. Like their God."

"Oh, that makes sense." I pulled out my hero's book, flipping through it.

"_The 'Tree of Souls' acts as the Na'vi's spiritual and physical connection to their deity, Eywa. When they use their neural connections to link with the tree, they may talk with their descendants who have passed."_

"I didn't understand a lot of the book, that chapter among them." I said, pointing to the page.

"Grace had never even seen it when she'd written this." Norm flipped through some of the pages and handed it back to me. "The only way you're ever going to get near that tree is if you get close to Jake. He's the clan leader."

"He's the chief!"

"Yeah." Max said, his mouth full. "And his mate, Neytiri, is the spiritual whatcha-ma-dooey."

Norm glared at Max, correcting him. Meanwhile, my mind was reeling with the possibilities of talking to Grace.

"It'll never work." I realized after a moment, relaying my thoughts aloud. "Jake doesn't accept me, and he won't."

* * *

Later that night I was sitting on the edge of a bunk when Norm came in to hand me a glass of water.

"How did Dr. Augustine die?" I asked suddenly. Norm stared at me for a moment. "You don't have to tell me. I'd just like to know." I added.

The man sighed and collapsed on the bunk opposite mine.

"There was a war on Pandora. It was the humans, the RDA, the people who brought you here, against us; the Na'vi and the few humans fighting for them. One night, Jake, Grace, Trudy, and I tried to escape. A man named Quartich, the colonel of the RDA…shot Grace with a very large gun. We tried to save her…"

"Why couldn't you?"

"Well, Jake looked after her for awhile. He had to earn back the trust of the Na'vi in order to gain access to the Tree of Souls. He believed that the Na'vi could bring Grace back. They tried to put all of Grace's soul into her Avatar body."

"Is that possible?"

"That's what Jake did. He's a real Na'vi; he can't change back into a human if he wants."

That didn't surprise me as much as it should have. After all, since he's the chief, being a real Na'vi would seem a better option than having to switch between human and Avatar all the time.

"So it didn't work?"

"She didn't have enough energy to pass through Eywa and into the Avatar body. She was too weak."

I nodded slowly.

"We buried her beneath the Tree of Souls. If you talk to Jake, you could mention you'd like to pay your respects or something. He might like that since he and Grace were friends."

"Thank you for telling me, Norm."

"Yeah. No problem, kid." He stood and exited, leaving me alone with my glass of water and the new rush of ideas I felt in my mind.

* * *

"So the Avatars grew inside these tanks?" I asked, tapping my finger against the solid glass container.

"Yeah. Yours did too; they just didn't bother handling it with any care. But I guess we should be thankful they even bothered to make one for you."

"I guess."

Max shook his head, going back to typing rapidly on his keyboard.

"What kind of stuff did they put in there? Water?"

"A special chemical mixture with nutrients and vitamins for the growing Avatar. Almost like the how the mother of a human child protects its unborn baby in liquid. We had to simulate a lot of it though."

"I bet." I started searching through shelves of labeled bottles. "Hey, do you know exactly what was in it?"

"There's a list of the exact makeup somewhere. Check in the blue books on that shelf." He pointed and I quickly scanned each one.

"Found it!" I announced, taking note of the page number.

"What do you want that for?" He asked. "It's just a list of a lot of really long words. _I _don't even know what a few of them are."

"It's okay, I'm just interested. Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead. Don't rip any pages out or anything." He was clearly more focused on his computer screen than he was on me, but I preferred it that way. I tucked the book under my arm and headed to my room to take a nap. I would need to get sleep now, because there was going to be a lot of lost sleep tonight.

* * *

**Ah ha! What is Lauren's plan? Try and take a guess ^_^**

**Next chapter includes her going back to see Jake and *gasp* Neytiri! We'll see how those two get along...**

**As always, thank you for reading! Next chapter on its way! -Louise Scarlet**


	5. Chapter 5

**All of your reviews make me feel so happy! I wasn't having good day yesterday and totally smiled when I saw them...anyway... :)**

**Enjoy :)**

**Chapter Five:**

* * *

My plan wasn't going to be easy to carry out; no way. I didn't even know how to piece it all together yet, but I knew that somehow, someway, I could make it work.

Step one? Get Grace a tank. That's right; Grace. A. Tank.

I was about half way down the list of chemicals by the time the clock was announcing it was two twenty in the morning. I was exhausted.

Three hours straight of silence in a lonely laboratory for a twelve-year-old is torture. Staring at a sheet of paper, tracking down a vial of fluids, double, triple, QUADRUPLE checking that it's correct, placing it with the others, and checking it off the list. It was the most boring thing I'd ever done.

So boring that, by the time it was three o'clock, I felt myself nodding off. I glanced at the list: eight more to go. Each moment I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and my fingers wanting to stop. But I pushed myself to get to the very bottom of the list.

Gathering all of the ingredients, I placed them in a hiding spot in the back of the lab, making it back to my bunk just in time to collapse and fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

Like I said, the plan was vague. I only knew the goal. And the next part of the plan was not going to be easy at all. But what part of it _would_ be?

I wanted more than anything to revive Grace. And by what Norm had told me about storing souls in both Eywa and other bodies, I thought it could be completely doable.

But easy? No way.

The next day, I started working on the fluids for the tank. Max asked me what I was doing as soon as I asked where the special safety gear was.

"And what, pray tell, are you going to wear one of those for?"

"I'm working on a project."I replied.

"Mmhm. Look, Lauren, I won't take vague for an answer."

I sighed, admitting to myself I was defeated.

"I want to create an Avatar tank. Can I?"

"Why do you need one of those?" He asked, going over to his desk as usual.

"I dunno…" I searched my brain for a plausible lie. "Mine's pretty crappy. I can grow it out a bit more."

Now, Max, being mainly a computer handler and a tech-geek didn't know quite as much about the Avatars themselves as he did about connecting to them. Well, that's what I assumed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it's already disconnected from its umbilical cord. There's no need for a tank."

I cursed to myself.

Uh, duh Laruen. Very big duh.

"Okay, Max, I want to bring Grace back to life."

If Max had been drinking something then, I'm sure he would have spit it all over my face.

"You want to WHAT!" He exclaimed. "Lauren- that's crazy!"

"But I think it can work!"

"Think what can work?" Norm asked, walking in at one of the worst times possible.

"Lauren wants to bring Grace back to life!"

Norm froze, looking from me to Max and then back to me.

"Lauren, I know it would be great if Grace could come back, but it's just not going to work…"

"And why not?" I protested. "We have the technology. We have the materials. Can't we try? Please?" At that point, I wasn't too proud to beg. Meeting Grace had become something I wanted- no, HAD- to do. I just needed to know what my father was like, and I needed Grace to tell me.

The boys sunk into chairs next to each other, sighing and thinking about what I was asking. I wanted to, basically, dig up a dead body, place it in a tank, and hope the person woke up. It sounded ridiculous to even me, but I knew it could work.

"Lauren…" Max said at length. "Even if you did make a tank, the Na'vi would never let you unbury Grace. And, besides, she's probably decomposed by now…"

Norm's lips quivered, as if he was unsure of saying something which was hanging on the end of his tongue.

"What?" I urged, my eyes piercing the side of the scientist's head.

"Actually…" He ventured, "Her body wouldn't have decayed at all yet. Under the Tree of Souls, the only thing which could decay a body is the natural minerals in the soil. And that would take at least fifteen years to start penetrating her skin."

Max looked to his friend.

"So you're saying all we would have to do is dig her up and brush her off?"

"No, that's not it." I said. "We would need to properly clean her, set her up to some kind of artificial umbilical cord-like device in order to provide nutrients…and then…"

"Then what?"

"Well, her entire soul is stored in the Tree of Souls, is it not? We could simply connect her through practice of the Na'vi's chants. You said they did that to my uncle, right? They surely could do it with Grace."

"Maybe…but the Na'vi will never go for it. They're too strict." Max pointed out.

"Jake is my uncle, whether he likes it or not. I am his closest blood relative. And you said he loved Dr. Augustine too, right?" I looked to Norm. "I can earn his trust. I can earn his love."

Norm smiled slightly.

"Doesn't befriending Jake defeat the purpose of reviving Grace?"

I narrowed my eyes, angry at Max.

"Grace didn't deserve to die; she was killed because of someone else's stupidity."

Max looked to the floor.

"I say we do it." Norm said.

Max rubbed his face with his hands, groaning.

"Alright." He caved. "I'm in."

* * *

"So, you're ready to try to get on Jake's good side?"

"Yeah. The most important word in that sentence being 'try'."

"Who knows," Norm said, slowing down the plane. "Maybe you'll end up being best friends."

I laughed.

"Sure."

"Just act like the other Na'vi; that's how Jake earned Neytiri's trust in the first place." Max pointed out from the front seat. I was in the back, Norm's Avatar's head sitting comfortably on my lap in an over-sized ball cap.

"You studied that Na'vi I taught you, right?" Norm asked.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded.

"Good." Norm landed the plane and I got out. He and Max went into the back seat to get Norm into his Avatar while I tried to keep myself from darting into the forest and hoping for something to eat me.

"I'm nervous, Norm." I admitted as he came out in his blue body.

"Don't be. Jake is a great guy, even though he can seem intimidating at first. He's strong, but not mean."

I followed behind Norm slowly as he lead me to the Tree of Souls.

The tree was enormous and beautiful. It took me a full minute to stop staring at it and remember what I was doing.

"Come on, Lauren." Norm encouraged.

I didn't reply, my eyes staying glued to the magnificent tree.

I wove my way through the crowd of Na'vi. Many would stop to stare at me as I edged close and closer to the Tree. Norm would say 'hello' to a few of them in their language, which I could partially understand thanks to him.

Jake was standing with a female Na'vi who wore some sort of shawl made of feathers.

"Hey, Jake!" Norm called.

"Hey Norm." Jake replied, turning away from the female.

"Lauren feels you two didn't properly bond." Norm said.

The female Na'vi's eyes shot open widely.

"Er, what I meant is, you didn't get off on the right foot."

Jake looked at the female, who I realized must be his mate. He told her something in explanation and she nodded.

"Lauren, I am sorry." Jake said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Could we maybe…talk alone?"

I nodded, still looking at the woman by his side. She was certainly uneasy of me being there.

He said something else to his mate and we walked away together, other Na'vi staring intently.

Once we had found ourselves behind a few of the trees, he sat down in a large patch of a pink moss and motioned for me to sit beside him. We let the sounds of the jungle fill the gap of silence as we sat for a moment.

"…I'm sorry too." I said finally.

"For what? I was the one exploding for no reason."

"Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn't have just come out of nowhere."

Jake laughed.

"Look, kid, you just surprised me. Suddenly I was thinking, 'here's this girl who wants me to treat her like she's my daughter and be her best friend' or something."

"No, no." I said quickly. "That's not what I really wanted." Of course, this was a partial lie. Some part of me had wanted to be accepted by him merely for the fact that he'd become the closest thing to a parent for m; but that was only through blood.

"I know that now." He continued. "But I wouldn't mind looking after you, really. I guess I'm just really nervous over…other things."

"Like what?" I pried, against my better judgment.

"Well…Neytiri, the woman I was just with-,"

"Your mate?"

"Yes." He smiled, and I think we both felt good then. Jake because he now knew I wasn't completely clueless and me because I'd shown that to him. "She and I are having a child, and I don't think I'm ready…" He trailed off, staring straight forward.

I let one of my small hands rest on his thick, strong shoulder.

"I don't know about Na'vi babies, but human babies are easy to take care of! You just pick them up, cuddle them, feed them- they're easy to make happy. Dangle the keys in front of them, you know?" I smiled and Jake loosened up just a bit.

"That's just it- I've never cared for a Na'vi baby either. I was a rough military officer and now I'm a warrior and leader of an entire Na'vi clan. Hanging out in bars and roughing it up with other guys was my life, not rocking a child in my arms."

"Plenty of army men have families, Uncle Jake." I paused slightly. It was the first time I'd ever said that. "And you're a nice guy, or so I've heard. Strong, but not mean. You've got a heart somewhere behind that bullet proof chest of yours." I tapped his chest lightly and we both laughed.

"God, you're so much like Tommy." He said. He thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you like science? Math?"

I grinned sheepishly.

"I'm into biology."

Uncle Jake, grinning, shook his head.

"Talking with you is just like talking with him. He was soft-spoken, but confident at the same time. He followed his heart, and his heart always told him to mix things in test tubes or study until it was three o'clock in the morning and he passed out at his desk."

I could imagine the man I'd seen in pictures slumped over his text books in the light of a small lamp while his brother tossed a pillow at him.

"_Go to sleep, Tommy!"_ Jake would have growled. But my father, being as stubborn as I could tell Jake was, would just go on cramming his mind with facts and other information.

"Hey, how about I introduce you to Neytiri?"

And there went that good feeling in my stomach.

"I don't know, she doesn't seem to like me very much."

"Nah, she's just a little tense and doesn't like random visitors. Hell, she almost shot me the first time I tried to talk to her."

Yep, the good feeling was definitely gone.

But I tagged along, figuring I had Uncle Jake to protect me if a certain expecting Na'vi decided to get territorial on me.

Norm was sitting with Neytiri and talking to her when Jake and I came back.

Neytiri gave me an apprehensive look. She looked to Jake, who told her to calm down.

"She is my niece." He explained.

"Lauren." I said, extending my hand. Jake shook it.

"Ah. Laurensully?"

"Er-,"

"Yes. Laurensully." Jake said quickly.

The female Na'vi nodded her approval, but did not smile. I think she was just as afraid of me as I was of her.

"I told her about how Lauren is your brother's daughter, and that you two are a lot alike." Norm said.

"You think?" Jake asked, looking at me.

"Well, yeah. And you can see the resemblance."

Neytiri nodded.

"There's no denying she's a Sully." Everyone grinned.

"So, Lauren, you'll be coming back tonight, right?" Jake asked, sitting next to his mate.

"H-huh?"

"For dinner. You're my niece; I have to introduce you to the clan. After all, you'll be staying for a long time."

Then I remembered that Pandora was my home.

"Right." I said, still uneasy. Was Max serious when he said something about becoming a part of the tribe? Would I have to become a real Na'vi like Uncle Jake?

I had to tell myself to calm down. Max hadn't even said that, right? And they wouldn't force me to do anything I didn't want to.

"Does she know any of our tongue?" Neytiri questioned.

"Yes, but I have much to learn." I replied in Na'vi. Neytiri nodded in approval. I tried not to let my excitement show, and looked to Norm. He nodded slightly as well.

"Bring her back tonight, alright?" Jake said to Norm. "And take care of her. Treat her like a princess. Feed her the best burritos you can find!" I and Jake began to laugh.

"Hey, I was just trying to ease her into eating Pandorian food, okay?" Norm defended himself.

"Well your breath smells like dung." Neytiri said in disgust, a hint of a playful tone in her voice.

"I'll make sure she's back tonight." Norm said, standing and going to my side.

"Well, Neytiri, maybe you could look after her?" Jake suggested, looking to her.

My stomach flipped over.

"Um…I do not know, Jake…" Neytiri fingered her shawl.

"Come on, you're not busy. It'll be good if you two talk. Let's go, Norm." Jake stood up grabbing Norm by the shoulder.

"W-where are we going?" Norm asked.

"You'll see." Jake took one last look back at me and smiled. I tried to return the expression, but I couldn't help but feel Neytiri and I were not one in the same. On any level.

* * *

**...Please tell me how this is going. Is it too slow/boring? I dunno...I think it's missing a little something...**

**OH! Yes, now I remember. This is in the romance category for a reason ;) Stay tuned for next chapter! Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

****

I haven't updated in so long and I apologize deeply. So much has been going on and I've been all over the place. I hope this will help to fill the gap. Thank you all again, forgive me!

* * *

Aunt Neytiri.

I got a vibe from this woman that, were I to call her that, I'd be breaking some kind of alien rule. So I just straightened my back, brushed back my hair, and kept silent. Maybe that would impress her.

Evidently, it didn't at first. She was taking me deep into the forest to teach me "to see" as she explained.

I didn't want to mention that, when I'm not in the Avatar, seeing isn't my best subject.

So I kept my mouth clamped shut, even when she began grabbing vines and hoisting herself up a tree. I stood for a moment at the base of tree, looking up at her in amazement.

She gave me a look when she'd gotten half way up. A look that said,

"Well? Let's go!"

I gripped a vine in my right hand, tugging at it. No way could this be safe.

But still, I copied what Neytiri was doing.

"Grab this vine, swing up, plant my feet…"

I promptly slipped on the first try, skidding down the bark. My hands were scratched, and Neytiri was getting impatient.

"Get your feet on the tree." She barked.

I tried again, this time digging my toes like fingers around the ridges in the tree. Eventually, I made my way up. It wasn't easy, and it didn't look it when I was scrambling up the bark with all my strength, but I did it.

Neytiri shook her head, starting down a branch and leaping to another tree. I followed behind.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

Neytiri didn't answer. She simply picked up her pace. I tried to keep up, winding my way on the branches and trying not to slip.

She skipped across a gap between two branches. I took one look at the leap I'd have to attempt and started looking for another way around it.

Neytiri groaned.

"Jump across the break." She said.

"I-I can't!" I said helplessly.

"Yes, you can." She said sternly. I looked at her and, after a moment, her features softened. "You are a Sully; you can do it." She reassured me. I stepped back, closed my eyes, and pressed off the branch.

Neytiri grasped my arms in her hands as I came down on the other tree. I pressed into her and we both ended up crashing against the trunk.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry!" I cried, stepping back. Neytiri placed a protective hand on her stomach and sighed.

"Yes. I am fine." She said.

"I really am sorry. I'm just not used to this kind of thing."

"It's alright. You have much to learn." She sat on the branch, rubbing her round belly gently and breathing softly. I sat next to her.

"Well, so do you." I said.

She whirled her head around to give me a bewildered look. Her tight braids smacked the sides of her face and her ears twitched back.

"What did you say?"

"You have a lot to learn, too. You learn something new every day."

"Such as?" She inquired, her eyes narrowing.

"Well…Aunts don't just take their nieces on weird tree climbing adventures without teaching them how to climb."

"What do human aunts do?"

"I never had an aunt, but my mom's friend used to take us out to lunch."

"Food?"

"Yeah. I mean, yes."

Neytiri smiled.

"Food sounds good." She stood up and I emulated, falling into step behind her as we slowly climbed upwards on a winding branch around the tree.

"Laurensully, what will you call me?"

"Is it okay if I call you Aunt Neytiri?" I asked. I didn't realize at first that I was holding my breath.

"Yes…" She said at length. I breathed easily again. "It is alright."

We reached the very top of the tree. There were large purple-orange fruits that looked like some kind of crossbreed between eggplant and a cantaloupe.

Neytiri tugged one of the fruits from the tree and handed it to me. I didn't take a taste until she'd retrieved her own and instructed me to do so.

The skin on the outside was rubbery but soft, while the meat inside was solid and sweet. I didn't hesitate to take larger bites and finished the entire thing.

Neytiri ate hers slowly, dangling her feet from the branch and looking out at the forest. I absently began to touch my hair and my hand made its way to the very end of my ponytail…

"Aunt Neytiri, what is this?" I asked, holding the strange moving fibers in my palm.

"Your queue, child. It connects you to this world."

"Oh…how?" I asked, not fully understanding what kind of hippy mantra "connect to the world" meant.

"The People connect to their Ikrans this way, and also to the Tree of Souls." She paused for a moment. "And to each other." She smiled faintly. "But only with their mates."

"Like you and Uncle Jake? Is it, like, sex then?"

"No, it has nothing to do with making a child." She replied, and then a smile made its way to her lips. "But it is pleasurable."

I nodded, smiling and staring out into the collection of plants and trees all around us. I could tell I would like having someone like a mother to talk to. I remember the late nights back on Earth.

"_Lauren, there's frozen chicken strips in the freezer. You can heat them up in the microwave or have a bowl of cereal. Milk and soda are in the fridge. Bed by nine. Love, Mom."_

_The clock read ten and mom still wasn't home. I pulled out a box of corn flakes and began pouring them into a small bowl._

She had never been home; always out late working and up early commuting to her job. And when she wasn't working she was sleeping in her room or lazily watching television while taking naps. I never had a chance to be with her.

"I want to teach you right away." Aunt Neytiri said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Teach me to what?"

"Speak The People's language. You need to know how to talk with the others."

"You…don't they speak English?"

"No, not all of them…Grace used to teach us but now…just Jake."

She drew in a breath and shook the thoughts from her head. She pointed to her ears.

"Memikyun."

"_Me-mi-kyun."_

She touched her nose.

"Ontu."

"_On-tu."_

She placed her fingers by her eyes.

"Menari."

"_Me-nadi."_

"_Menari!" _She hissed. I repeated her. And it continued through the evening.

* * *

"Norm?" I asked, stepping into the lab in my pajamas. He stood by one of the empty tanks.

"Lauren? Hey. I thought you were asleep."

"I was, but I'm not a good sleeper."

"Mmhm, me too."

Norm pulled up a chair for me to sit in. I refused, so he took it for himself. He sighed.

"What is wrong?" I inquired. I decided to sit after all and settled myself onto the floor.

"Just thinking…"

"About what?"

He ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Trudy." He answered and looked away.

"Trudy?" I thought I had heard the name before, but I wasn't entirely sure.

"Yes. She died in the battle between the RDA and us. She was…my girlfriend…"

I nodded, a frown spread across my face.

"Well, I'll go get some gloves on."

"Wh-what?"

"Some gloves. I don't want to spill any of the chemicals on me. It's going to take the rest of the night to make sure we have everything we need for another tank."

Norm smiled.

"You want to bring Trudy back? Is that possible?"

"We'll try. But who knows?"

Norm jumped up and wrapped me in a hug. His eyes were wetting my shoulder slightly as he exclaimed a few thank you's. I hugged him back and whispered.

"I'll try Norm…I'll try."

* * *

Weeks passed and each day I learned more and more. Aunt Neytiri taught me the language, and although I was slow at picking it up, I could soon speak formally to the natives. I felt accepted by them, seeing as how the two leaders of the clan almost automatically dubbed me a safe, approachable person. Being a child helped too, I think.

But despite lessening the barriers between us, I hardly interacted with the Na'vi children. I am a shy person, as you probably already can tell. They thought I was strange, and I thought they were strange.

The same went for Aunt Neytiri and I. We may have been together, but we weren't completely clicking. It wasn't some 'she fed me fruit and now we're best friends' kind of deal. We just accepted each other.

Jake was a different story. I clung to him when I could, trying to get him to like me. I would do as he asked and listened carefully. If I was ever to get him to agree to the crazy idea I had in store, I would need to be a perfect angel and show that I was smart. If I was ever going to gain his full trust, I knew that would have to follow every one of the clan's rules. Sharing his blood didn't give me some kind of automatic acceptance card (though I often wished it did).

It was being with them that I learned life lessons like this. I had to work for what I wanted, gain trust, adjust to a completely different setting. But I had a family now. Sure, it was a family made up of a nerdy scientist, a technology geek, a strong alien warrior, and his stern partner, but it was a hell of a lot more like a family than the one I had on Earth. And the more time I spent with them, the more I actually began to accept them.

* * *

** I do want to start making my chapters longer. I'll work on that suggestion, thank you. :-) (Darn it's 7:30 am...I forgot to sleep again DX) Til next time, ~Louise**


	7. Chapter 7

**Finally, I'm updating! This is the end of this fic. Gosh, it's been such a long time since I started . I plan on writing a follow-up (the whole reason this was written :\ ) But this will probably be much later. Thank you so much for sticking with me! You guys rock! :-]**

**BTW, chawk1993: Yes, Neytiri is pregnant ^^**

* * *

It was in these weeks that Jake and I bonded closer than I had bonded with my own mother. I felt safe with him, and I was sure he would listen to my idea. As I walked over to him one day, I recalled a conversation I'd had with Norm and Max a little while ago.

"_Jake and Grace hated each other at first. Grace couldn't stand the idea of Jake replacing your dad after Tommy had trained so long."_

"_But then they kind of just, I don't know, connected. Kind of weird. They really loved each other after that."_

"_Maybe she was reminded of my father."_

"_Could be…"_

"Uncle Jake," I said timidly.

"Lauren, hey." He smiled and pulled me into a hug. "What's up?"

"I have a question to ask."

"Alright, but if it's 'where do babies come from', I'm not answering."

We both laughed.

"No, it's not that…" I took in a deep breath. _"They both loved each other…"_

"What? What is it?"

"I want to bring Dr. Augustine back to life."

"Dr. Augustine?" He repeated, shock showing clearly on his face and in his tone. He lowered his voice. "How do you know about Grace?"

"Norm and Max told me the stories. I know Quaritch killed her. I want to bring her back, Uncle Jake."

He sighed, leaning back and looking at me in disbelief.

"How exactly do you think you're going to do that?" He asked.

"If I can have access to her body and the Tree of Souls, I think she can be revived. We can retrieve her soul from the tree and…I know it sounds ridiculous, but it could work. Please, we need to try!"

Jake stood, holding one hand to his forehead. He hesitated in giving any kind of an answer.

"You really think this could work?" He asked finally. I nodded firmly and watched as his hand rested on my shoulder. "Then it's worth the try."

* * *

The next day, Norm flew Jake and I back to the lab. Uncle Jake had to stay outside while we rolled the tanks out the door and strapped them to the bottom of the aircraft. I was frantic the entire time, checking if everything was stable and asking for sure that Norm could keep them intact during their flight. Uncle Jake tried to keep me calm, but I was a wreck.

"What did you tell N-Neytiri?" I asked, stuttering slightly since I hadn't added 'Aunt' to the name. Jake didn't seem to care though, and it didn't look as though he had even heard me.

"Uncle Jake? What did you tell Aunt Neytiri?" I repeated the question a bit louder. He didn't reply for a long moment, and then said,

"Nothing."

I raised an eyebrow.

"_Nothing?_ What do you mean by that? You didn't tell her what we're doing?"

"No. I didn't think it was really necessary."

I closed my eyes and leaned forward.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I murmured. Norm pulled a latch and a plastic bag came out of a ceiling compartment.

"Not on my floor you're not, young lady," he said with a smile.

"So we're getting Trudy too." Uncle Jake muttered to himself. "She's buried right by Grace, right?"

"Yes," Norm said seriously. I stopped talking as they chatted about something I was too dizzy to hear.

* * *

Na'vi cleared the area as the plane came down, the wind whipping the contents of the ground into the air. My uncle and I jumped out to unhook the tanks from the vehicle and place them on the ground. Norm then landed the plane off to the side. I took in the sight of the Tree of Souls. It was incredible; breathtaking…I was having trouble explaining it to myself.

"Come on, she's somewhere over here."

"Jake?" Aunt Neytiri's voice called. "Jake…what are you doing?" She stared as he bent down to Grace's resting place and fingered the soft dirt.

"We're going to bring Grace back to life," he said.

"_What?"_

"We're unburying Grace and brining her back to life." He looked at me. "Lauren, get the shovels."

"Jake, you may not. That will upset the balance. You cannot do this! I forbid it!"

I stood frozen in place, my eyes not knowing whether to lock onto Neytiri or Jake. They both glared at each other. Neytiri frowned, her eyes piercing their way into Jake's heart until he let up and looked away.

"Neytiri, please. We must do this."

"This goes against Eywa, Jake. All energy is only borrowed. Grace did not have enough energy to give, and so she did not receive enough to have a new life."

"I know that, Neytiri. But her energy was taken away from her from someone else. Someone else _stole _her energy for his own selfish reasons and then he had to give it back when he died. Grace was deprived of giving Eywa her energy, and she should be given a second chance!"

From his spot behind me, Norm nervously added,

"And Trudy too!"

Jake cupped Neytiri's cheek in his hand, looking into her eyes and speaking softly.

"We have to listen. We have to try."

Neytiri swallowed and shook her head slowly.

"Jake…"

But he was not prepared to give up.

"Please. You loved Grace too, remember? She helped you. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have been able to understand me when I met you."

That earned a smile from Neytiri. She nodded and allowed Jake to continue.

"She loved everyone here." Jake leaned in close and held her. "Think of Teyuke, or Kahtsul, or whatever we decide to name..." Uncle Jake placed a loving hand on his love's round stomach, holding it with a shine in his eye. "He needs a mother. So does Lauren. She needs someone to help her."

Neytiri thought for a moment, looking from the hand on her stomach, to me, to Norm, and finally back to Jake.

"Okay."

Norm bit his lip as he smiled. I beamed as Jake kissed Neytiri and then turned to me.

"Well? Where are those shovels?"

* * *

I was biting my fingers as Jake slid the tentacle-like vines of the Tree of Souls into the tank holding Grace's lifeless human body. She was unclothed save for the airtight mask around her face that was connected to an air tube. The vines lashed wildly for a few seconds, not used to be surrounded by liquid. When they adjusted, they attached to Grace's neck and seemed to lock in with small, thin, strings.

Jake walked over to the second tank as Neytiri and other Na'vi chanted for Grace.

"This might not work on her, Norm." I heard Jake say. Norm nodded solemnly, his hand resting on the outside of the tank and his eyes fixed firmly on Trudy's resting face.

Jake pushed the vines into the container and they went to work on Trudy's neck in the same way they had on Grace's. Everyone but Norm watched as Neytiri lifted her arms into the air and chanted louder than she had before. She stumbled forward, her voice wavering as she called to Eywa.

And then she was silent. Aunt Neytiri turned to look through the glass and asked the others to hush.

I was holding my breath, the air caught in my throat and my heart nearly stopping. The feeling of anxiousness had never set well with me. It was like watching an intense killing scene in a movie and not knowing who was going to come out alive. And as thoughts rushed rapidly in my mind...

Grace's eyes slowly opened. She took in a breath and moved one of her arms. Jake pressed against the glass and spoke to her.

"Grace? Grace, can you hear me?"

She took in a few more breaths.

"S…" She drug out a sort of hissing noise for a moment.

"Grace? Are you alright?

"S…" The same noise escaped her lips once more.

"What is it?" Jake asked frantically.

"Samples…"

The rest of us smiled. I walked up to the tank nervously and looked at Grace as Jake went over to Norm. The Na'vi began their chants again.

It was odd to stand there looking at Dr. Augustine in the tank. It was like looking at a newborn baby in its crib. She was mostly motionless, trying to remember how to move and speak. She stared back up at me, her brow furrowing.

I reminded myself I looked like a Na'vi child. I put up my five-fingered hand and she blinked a few times, probably trying to decide if her eyes were deceiving her.

She then gave up and rolled over a bit, then quickly wrung a tired arm around her chest. I smiled.

I had done it.

* * *

"Hey, pass me that syringe," Grace said. I obediently handed her what she asked.

"So, did you like it?" I asked eagerly. Grace thought a moment, sticking the needle into a root and extracting liquid from it.

"Hmm. It was alright," she replied with a smirk.

"I've been working on that story for a month. The least you could do is praise me for it."

Grace ruffled my hair and handed me a box of various liquids in glass containers.

"I liked it. But you need an ending." She pointed to a cooler behind me and turned to continue her work. I placed the samples in the cooler and looked down at my notebook.

* * *

It's been half a year since that day Grace and Trudy reopened their eyes. Grace is still my hero, and I follow her everywhere, even though I know she gets annoyed. But she'll just have to get used to it.

Trudy and Norm make an adorable pair. Norm has been able to return to lab work while Trudy takes care of all the flying. She's a pretty cool woman. Very bad-ass.

Aunt Neytiri and I are still a bit awkward around each other, but I'm sure that will end. She'll be having her baby soon. Everyone wants it to be a boy. I think it'll be adorable to have a younger cousin to play with.

Uncle Jake and I have grown inseparable. It feels like I have known him for my whole life.

My new life may not be ordinary, but somehow I feel like this is where I fit in. For once in my life, I actually feel like I fit in. For once in my life, I've slept through the nights.

I'm finally where I belong.

_**~Fin~**_

_**

* * *

**_**Wow, lots of page breaks ^^; Again, thank you all SO MUCH! 3 Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to leave me some criticism :-]**


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